I've no idea why the pitch is in such bad condition again but I do find it interesting that daring to criticise Colin Powell is seen as completely unwarranted despite the non-negligible probability that he (and his staff) are likely to be partly culpable.
If our groundsman was completely anonymous rather than a popular former player, I very much doubt if he would be given the complete benefit of the doubt (which begs the question why the fact that he was a former player is relevant at all?).
If when fundin was provided the groundsman had provided shit pitches then what Nya says would be appropriate but paddy has provided decent pitches in the past when more funding was given It's common knowledge with the budget being cut the pitch has deteriorated , really isn't rocket science
I've no idea why the pitch is in such bad condition again but I do find it interesting that daring to criticise Colin Powell is seen as completely unwarranted despite the non-negligible probability that he (and his staff) are likely to be partly culpable.
If our groundsman was completely anonymous rather than a popular former player, I very much doubt if he would be given the complete benefit of the doubt (which begs the question why the fact that he was a former player is relevant at all?).
But he's been groundsman for years and the pitch was excellent. It's only recently it's been a real problem at the same time it's a known fact that financing it has been withdrawn. Coincidence? You must work in managementof some sort, if not you'd make a good one. Cut resources and expect the same results and if not it's the staffs fault not the cuts :-)
I saw a comment on Facebook that explains the lines
The pitch was awful, nearly an inch of mud around the centre circle, but firmed-up as the match went on. Paddy said it was only just passed fit, thanks to some emergency vertical draining that left those marks on the surface. Six days to get it ready for the cup match, with more rain forecast.....
If when fundin was provided the groundsman had provided shit pitches then what Nya says would be appropriate but paddy has provided decent pitches in the past when more funding was given It's common knowledge with the budget being cut the pitch has deteriorated , really isn't rocket science
Exactly this ! I find it equally frustrating as the people calling for Powells head, even though he isnt financially supported by the board and has a shocking squad to try compete with.
We played on sand once at Chelsea - not sure complaining does much good. The pitch looked awful and was sticky in patches but certainly was never unplayable and there wasn't a suggestion the ref would abandon the game at any time. What is a concern is - it was a dry day yesterday and a bit of rain may have pushed it over the edge. I suspect Paddy is really earning his money at the moment.
But we've now had arguably the worst pitch in professional English football for two seasons in a row - if the difference between what was (I agree) a perfectly good pitch previously and the one we have now is only £8k then either the owners are even more stupid than many on here already think, or alternatively the situation infact has a more complex explanation.
I recall that some posters on here argued that the problem with the Doncaster abandonment was that the heavy rain fell on a bone dry pitch which thus couldn't drain properly, and now it seems the problem is that heavy rain is falling on an already saturated pitch which can't drain properly either. Ergo, the pitch can't cope with any heavy rain?
If the Valley's topography or perhaps 'unusual' rainfall volumes are however to blame then given these are likely to have been factors for example during the Premiership years too (when we had a very good pitch) - thus surely our maintenance budget must have been one of the highest relatively at that time (yet I'm prepared to assume it wasn't unusually so)?
Something has clearly happened which has affected the drainage - a collapsed drainage pipe has been suggested. Drainage has been good in the past so no other reason it has been so bad of late.
Something has clearly happened which has affected the drainage - a collapsed drainage pipe has been suggested. Drainage has been good in the past so no other reason it has been so bad of late.
If something exogenous genuinely has happened like this then the club should come out and confirm it - this would help to placate annoyed fans/players/managers, whilst possibly even giving the club scope to postpone a couple of fixtures to get it sorted properly presumably with the help of outside parties (eg. utilities).
Pretty sure Chelsea relaid their pitch in January after that sand pit match v us. I'd imagine they spent a lot of money on it though and it could only have been temporary to see them through to the summer when it could be properly re-done.
In the summer the options were spend 20k on doing the bare minimum or 28k on resolving the problem.
You can see with your own eyes which option the senior management took.
This is a ridiculous comment, and totally inaccurate.
so what are the accurate figures then?
To 'solve' the problem would mean to remove the current pitch, and build a new 3G/desso pitch. The rough guide for this is £1.5million. That is slightly above your estimate of £28k.
Spending a few grand more on the pitch this season would not have stopped the problems they are having now. It costs more than £28k just to hire some pieces of equipment for a month.
Those guys work hard with what they have, and our pitch is the way it is, because its not been invested in (and by that I mean millions) since we were in the Premier League and we are now feeling the effects or multiple factors. It's not 1 single factor such as bad weather or poor drainage or the topography of the valley or the lack of spending on equipment - its a mixture of lots of factors resulting in us having a shocking pitch.
In the summer the options were spend 20k on doing the bare minimum or 28k on resolving the problem.
You can see with your own eyes which option the senior management took.
This is a ridiculous comment, and totally inaccurate.
so what are the accurate figures then?
To 'solve' the problem would mean to remove the current pitch, and build a new 3G/desso pitch. The rough guide for this is £1.5million. That is slightly above your estimate of £28k.
Spending a few grand more on the pitch this season would not have stopped the problems they are having now. It costs more than £28k just to hire some pieces of equipment for a month.
Those guys work hard with what they have, and our pitch is the way it is, because its not been invested in (and by that I mean millions) since we were in the Premier League and we are now feeling the effects or multiple factors. It's not 1 single factor such as bad weather or poor drainage or the topography of the valley or the lack of spending on equipment - its a mixture of lots of factors resulting in us having a shocking pitch.
In the summer the options were spend 20k on doing the bare minimum or 28k on resolving the problem.
You can see with your own eyes which option the senior management took.
This is a ridiculous comment, and totally inaccurate.
so what are the accurate figures then?
To 'solve' the problem would mean to remove the current pitch, and build a new 3G/desso pitch. The rough guide for this is £1.5million. That is slightly above your estimate of £28k.
Spending a few grand more on the pitch this season would not have stopped the problems they are having now. It costs more than £28k just to hire some pieces of equipment for a month.
Those guys work hard with what they have, and our pitch is the way it is, because its not been invested in (and by that I mean millions) since we were in the Premier League and we are now feeling the effects or multiple factors. It's not 1 single factor such as bad weather or poor drainage or the topography of the valley or the lack of spending on equipment - its a mixture of lots of factors resulting in us having a shocking pitch.
It wasn't an estimate. They were the actual figures.
Where are you getting £1.5m from and is an 3G pitch even allowed in the league.
Watford spent something like half of that on their pitch which would be a better solution but the fact remains the higher figure would have solved some of the problems we saw last season and this.
I agree about the lack of long term investment being the root of the problems.
According this doc. it would cost around 400k to lay down a new hybrid/artificial pitch. FIFA 2 Star pitches could be the way forward. They are just as good as a perfectly manicured real grass pitches by all accounts.
According this doc. it would cost around 400k to lay down a new hybrid/artificial pitch. FIFA 2 Star pitches could be the way forward. They are just as good as a perfectly manicured real grass pitches by all accounts.
And the money it would cost to lay would of course be offset by the increased revenue generating opportunities as well as cheaper ongoing maintenance.
Why are people discussing artificial surfaces? They are not currently an option and unlikely to become one in the near future. The are banned in England and a vote on allowing them last year involving every club was a resounding no.
Comments
If our groundsman was completely anonymous rather than a popular former player, I very much doubt if he would be given the complete benefit of the doubt (which begs the question why the fact that he was a former player is relevant at all?).
It's common knowledge with the budget being cut the pitch has deteriorated , really isn't rocket science
You must work in managementof some sort, if not you'd make a good one. Cut resources and expect the same results and if not it's the staffs fault not the cuts :-)
You can see with your own eyes which option the senior management took.
Edit: for the youngsters out there, think "Alan Titchmarsh" without the annoying northern whiney accent.
I recall that some posters on here argued that the problem with the Doncaster abandonment was that the heavy rain fell on a bone dry pitch which thus couldn't drain properly, and now it seems the problem is that heavy rain is falling on an already saturated pitch which can't drain properly either. Ergo, the pitch can't cope with any heavy rain?
If the Valley's topography or perhaps 'unusual' rainfall volumes are however to blame then given these are likely to have been factors for example during the Premiership years too (when we had a very good pitch) - thus surely our maintenance budget must have been one of the highest relatively at that time (yet I'm prepared to assume it wasn't unusually so)?
Spending a few grand more on the pitch this season would not have stopped the problems they are having now. It costs more than £28k just to hire some pieces of equipment for a month.
Those guys work hard with what they have, and our pitch is the way it is, because its not been invested in (and by that I mean millions) since we were in the Premier League and we are now feeling the effects or multiple factors. It's not 1 single factor such as bad weather or poor drainage or the topography of the valley or the lack of spending on equipment - its a mixture of lots of factors resulting in us having a shocking pitch.
That is pretty much spot on SparrowHawk.
Where are you getting £1.5m from and is an 3G pitch even allowed in the league.
Watford spent something like half of that on their pitch which would be a better solution but the fact remains the higher figure would have solved some of the problems we saw last season and this.
I agree about the lack of long term investment being the root of the problems.
According this doc. it would cost around 400k to lay down a new hybrid/artificial pitch. FIFA 2 Star pitches could be the way forward. They are just as good as a perfectly manicured real grass pitches by all accounts.